Arguments instead of personal attacks – in their TV duel, the US vice-presidential candidates did not engage in an aggressive exchange of blows, but rather had a mostly objective debate about the central issues of the election campaign. On Tuesday evening (local time), JD Vance and Tim Walz intensively discussed the central issues of the election campaign, from migration to the economy to abortion, in front of an audience of millions for 90 minutes – without a clear winner of the duel being determined at the end.
It was the last TV duel of this election campaign, in which Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris went head-to-head. Vance and Walz appeared serious and aimed primarily at centrist voters with their statements. At the beginning of the debate there was a handshake, at the end of the debate there was a handshake with small talk in the presence of the wives.
During the duel, the two vice-presidents didn’t attack each other so much as they fought against the presidential candidates of the opposing camp. Vance repeatedly pointed out that Harris achieved little as vice president and stood for the old government under Joe Biden.
For his part, Walz repeatedly warned of a Trump comeback and recalled how his refusal to acknowledge his 2020 election defeat would have resulted in chaos and violence.
Walz denied the Republican’s suitability for the presidency. “A Donald Trump who is over 80 years old and only talks about crowd size at his rallies is not the person we need at this moment,” Walz said.
The Democratic governor from Minnesota pointed out that in his first term as president, Trump canceled the international agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program without creating a replacement. Today, Iran is closer to producing a nuclear bomb than ever before.
Vance replied that Trump had actually “provided stability in the world,” even though Walz described him as an “agent of chaos.” He achieved this “by building an effective deterrent,” said Vance.
Things got more heated when it came to the central election campaign issues of migration and abortion. Walz accused his opponent of wanting to “dehumanize” immigrants by spreading the myth of pet-eating migrants. The false claim spread by Vance had led to considerable tension and several bomb threats in the small town of Springfield.
Republican Senator Vance, who presented himself several times during the debate as a devout Catholic and loving father of three children, expressed the expectation that no one would want to reverse the Supreme Court’s abolition of the nationwide right to abortion – “even though I know that the Democrats “have taken a very radical pro-abortion stance.”
Walz responded that the Democratic Party stands up for women. “We are for the freedom to make your own decision,” said the running mate. Since the Supreme Court’s decision, jurisdiction over abortion rights has fallen to individual states, some of which have drastically restricted or abolished abortion rights.
During the debate, Walz often took notes, which seemed less confident than the freely presented statements by Vance, who was ready for printing. He visibly tried to polish his image as an ultra-right hardliner and present himself as polite and moderate.
In the polls for the election on November 5th, Trump and Harris are practically tied. Both Vance, 40, and Walz, 60, were chosen by their bosses as running mates to win predominantly white, working-class votes in their home regions of the Midwest.
The two moderators from CBS conducted the debate in New York strictly and ticked off the topics one by one. At one point they exercised their right to turn off their opponents’ microphones in order to get the debate back on an orderly track.
It was expected to be the final televised debate of the presidential campaign as Trump rejected a second televised face-off with his Democratic rival Harris. According to many observers, Harris won the debate on September 10th by one point – without this having any impact on the polls. The vice debate, which is generally given less importance, did not produce a clear winner.